File-case for cards



No. 619,323. Patented Fab. I4, |899.

' F. MACEY.

FILE CASE FOR CARDS.

(Application led Apr. 13, 189B.)

(No Model.)

Il E Ffm. c\

wf www. m L. W F w f .Tw ...f JAY. 7 ,u a a UNrrnD STATES PATENT FFICE.

FRANK MACEY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

FILE-CASE FOR CARDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,323, dated February14, i899.

` Application nea Aprilia, 189s. serial No. 677,455. oro vigas.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concer-n,.-

Be it known that I, FRANK MACEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in File-Cases forCards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in file-cases for cards; and itsobject is to provide the same with certain new and useful featureshereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in theclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of a device embodying myinvention; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the same on the line2 2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3, a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;Fig. 4f, a transverse vertical section on the line 4 4 of Fig.

.1; Fig. 5, a detail of a portion of the follower and holding device;Fig. 6, la detail showing a rear view of the follower-holding mechanism,and Fig. 7 a detail of the clip and spring in perspective.

Like letters referto like parts in all of the figures.

A represents any suitable drawer, case, or box having semicirculargrooves B in its sides and parallel with its bottom and rectangulargrooves C in its bottom,near the middle thereof. An inclined rest Dextends across said ease, near the front thereof, and anoppositely-inclined movable follower E is adjustable toward and fromsaid rest within the case and is held in place when adjusted by means ofa metal clip F, secured to the bottom of the follower and engaging themetal strip G, which is secured to the bottom of the case between thegrooves C and projects laterally over the same a short distance. Theclip F consists of a plate having its edges F folded downward to engagethe edges of the strip G and aportion F" of the downwardlyturned edgesat the rear of said plate turned inward to embrace said strip and engagethe under side of the same. Secured to the under side of the clip F is adat spring H, adapted to engage and slide upon the upper surface of thestrip G near the front of the follower.

A T-handle I, secured to the front of the case A, is provided with astem I', which extends through said front and has a disk J on its innerend, to which disk is attached the connecting-rod K by means of thecrank-pin L, extending through the vertical slot K' in said rod.Half-round rods M lie within the semicircular grooves B and are pivotedin the brackets N at one end and in the plate O, which extends acrossthe front of the case at the opposite end. VCrank-arms P are se= curedto the forward ends of the rods M and pivoted to the respective ends ofthe rod K, one of said arms normally extending upward at an angle ofabout forty-five degrees with the horizon, and the opposite arm eX-tending downward in an opposite direction at the same angle. Thus whenthe rod K is shifted longitudinally the rods M will be rotated inopposite directions a quarter of a revolution and lie wholly within thegrooves B, with their fiat sides in the planes of the inner surfaces ofthe sides of the case, as shown in Fig. 4, or be turned with their fiatfaces downward or horizontal, one-half projecting into the drawer, as inFig. 2. The rod K is shifted longitudinally to operate the rods M byturning the T-handle a quarter of a revolution, the crank-pin L movingupward in the slot K as the disk J is rotated until it reaches the upperend of said slot and the end of the rod K engages the rodMand forms astop. When said disk is turned in the opposite direction to lock thecards, itis stopped when it reaches the bottom of the slot K. The pivotsof the rods M, the pivot of the disk J, and the bottom of said slotbeing in the same plane prevent further turning, and said rods cannot beturned except by the 0pposite motion of the disk and crank-pin. Thedirection of the T-handle indicates the position of the rods M, thecards being engaged by said rods when the T is in la horizontal positionand disengaged therefrom when the same is in a vertical position. Africtionspring Q engages the under side of the disk J to retard themotion of the parts and prevent rattling.

R represents the series of cards to be led,

IOO

having notches R' in their sides adapted to be engaged by the rods Mwhen said rods are turned so that one-half projects into the case andwith their flat sides downward and-that part of their convex sides whichis still within the groove lying next the upper half of the same, thenotches being formed with their lower sides horizontal to engage saidflat sides and prevent the Vremoval of the cards from the case. Thelines of the axes of the pivots of the rods M lie in the center of theirfiat sides and in the plane of the inner surface of the case sides, sothat when the rods are turned with their flat faces perpendicular theyfill `the grooves B, their convex sides lying next Athe concave of thegroove and their fiat sides in the plane of the inner sur faces of thesides of the case, and a smooth inner surface is presented to the edgeof the cards,I andsaid cards may be removed and replaced withouthindrance. The follower is moved along the strip G as desired bypressing downward onl the front of the follower or. tipping it forward,thusv compressing the spring H, which holds the forward side raised, andreleases the clip from the strip G, which has been prevented fromsliding thereon by the engagement of the forward angle of the portion Fwith the under sideof the strip G and the engagement ofthe rear angle ofthe clip with the upper side of the same. Inthis construction it is notnecessary to cut away large portions of the cards to allow theretaining-rods to pass through, as is commonly done, it being necessaryto cut only small notches in the ends, and by placing the retaining-rodsin grooves in the side walls of the case I eliminate all obstruction tothe removal of the cards when unlocked, the en gagement of the convexsides of the rods with said grooves also serving to support andstrengthen the rods at all times and prevent their being bent or gettingoutof place.

y Having thus .fully described my invention, whatI claim as new, andwish to secure by Letters Patent, is- 1 1. In a case having longitudinalgrooves in its sides, a series of cards in said case, rods pivoted insaid case and adapted to be rotated to project from said grooves toengage said cards, and to lie within said grooves when said cards arereleased, substantially as described. n

, 2. In a case having longitudinal grooves in its sides, and a series'ofcards in said case, half-round rods pivoted to tu rn in said grooves andlying with their iiat sides inthe plane of the inner surfaces of thesides of the case when turned o ut of engagement with said cards, andwith said sides in a horizontal position when in engagement with thecards, substantially as described.

3. In acase having longitudinal half-round grooves in its sides,half-roundV rods pivoted to rotate in said grooves, the lines of theaxes of the pivots of said rods being in the centers of the iiat sidesof the rods and in the planes of the inner surfaces of the sides of thecase, substantially as described, whereby the convex sides of the rodsmove close to the concave surface of the grooves and the rods are heldfrom springing out of line thereby, substantially as described.

4. In combination With a case and a series of cards within the same,rods pivoted to the end Walls of said case and extending along the sidewalls and adapted to engage and retain the cards, a crank-arm secured toone of 'said rods and extending upward, a crank-arm secured to theopposite rod and extending downward, a rod pivotally connecting saidcranks, and meansv for moving said rod longitudinally, substantially asdescribed. Y

5. The combinationof a case, a series of cards having notches in theirends, rods pivoted to the case and adapted to engage said notches, acrank-arm on one of said rods lex- A tending upward, and a crank-armonthe op= posite rod extending downward, a rod pivot-I ally connectingthe outer ends of said cranks, a handle on the front of the case andhaving a stem passing through the same, a disk on the inner end of saidstem, Vand a crank-'pin engaging a slot in said rod, substantially asdescribed.

6. In combination with a case, and a series of cards in the same, aninclined adjustable follower in said case, a longitudinal strip se curedto the middle of the bottom of the case, a clip secured to said followerto ,engage said strip, and a spring secured to said follower to raisethe forward side of the same, whereby the angles of the clip engage thelongitudinal strip and prevent the movement of the fol' lower,substantially as described.

7. In combination with a case having grooves in its bottom near themiddle, a lon-v gitudinal strip secured to said case-bottom, betweensaid grooves and projecting over the same, an inclined follower in saidcase, a clip secured to the bottom of said follower and havingdownwardly-turned anges to engage the edge of said strip, and downwardlyand inwardly turned portions near the-rear thereof to lembrace saidstrip, Vand a spring se= cured to said clip to raise ,the front of saidfollower and engage the forward angle of the inwardly-turned portionwith the bottomof said strip, and the rear edge of the clip with the topof the same,substantially as described.

8. The combination of a case having half= round grooves in its sides andrectangular grooves in its bottom, a series of cards hav ing notches intheir ends, half-round rodsin the grooves in the sides of the case, anupwardly-extending crank-arm on the forward end of one of said rods, anda downwardly extending crank-arm on the opposite rod, a rod having avertical slot near its middle piva oted to the endsof said crank-arms, ahandle extending through `the front of the case, a disk on the innerendof said handle, a 'crank vpin on said disk` engaging the slot in saidrod,

IIO

tudinal strip secured to the case-bottom he- In testimony whereof I afxlny signature tween the rectangular grooves, an inclined in presence oftwo witnesses. follower having notches in its ends, a clip se- FRANKMACEY cured to the bottom of said follower and en- 5 gaging said strip,and a, spring to raise the Witnesses:

forward end of the follower, substantially as L. E. FLANDERS, described.JOSEPH KIRWIN.

